


Of Frustrations and Resolutions

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-08
Updated: 2009-02-08
Packaged: 2019-01-19 21:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12418506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: [Fic Exchange '08] A New Year's celebration might just be the answer to the question so many have been asking themselves: "Why don't they just find a quiet room and snog already?" A little bit of L/J fluff.





	Of Frustrations and Resolutions

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

James Potter was, to say the very least, highly amused.

He was sitting next to the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, sipping from a bottle of butterbeer and half-listening to Peter and Sirius as they enthusiastically recounted their latest run-in with Filch. All around them, the New Year's celebration was slowly escalating, despite the few remaining students.

Had he been paying any attention at all, James might have noticed a trio of mischievous second year boys practicing color-changing charms on the hair of anyone they could hit. He might have chuckled at the alarms that sounded sometime around nine-thirty, as a fifth year boy and girl tumbled in a tangle of arms and legs down the now-smooth stone slide to the girls' dormitories. He might even have noticed that Peter's impersonation of Filch had reached near-spot-on perfection.

All this—and more—was lost on him, however, as the true source of James' amusement was seated across the common room, chatting with sixth-year Gryffindor Beater Patrick Spinnet and absently twirling a strand of dark red hair around her finger. Like James, Lily Evans' attention was entirely diverted. Like James, her eyes kept straying across the room.

Unlike James, Lily couldn't maintain eye contact. Every time James caught her eye, she'd quickly look away, a faint blush staining her cheeks and a tiny smile playing on her lips, only to look up again moments later. It was like a primary school game, one that James couldn't help but play.

"Prongs, please stop eye-flirting with Evans," Sirius grabbed a nearby pillow and flung it at James' head. It caught him squarely in the face, and knocked his glasses askew. "Not only are you not absorbing a single word we say, you're making Peter sick."

"Actually, I find the whole situation vastly entertaining," Peter offered casually, taking a swig of his butterbeer. "Though, to be fair," he added hastily at Sirius' glare, "it's getting a little redundant."

"Redundant?" James considered this.

"It's freezing out there!" Remus appeared out of nowhere and flung himself down in an empty chair. He reached into his bookbag and began pulling out bottles, setting them on the table in front of him. "It took me forever to sneak down to the Three Broomsticks, and I think Filch has Mrs. Norris tailing me. But I got plenty of provisions for tonight, and the house elves in the kitchens were more than generous with food. They really are wonderful, those house elves, seriously, I don't know what we'd do without them and—wait, how do you already have drinks?"

Sirius shrugged. "Peter found a stash of butterbeer under his bed."

"Figures," Remus snorted, opening his bottle. "Well? What'd I miss?"

"Prongs and Evans need to find a quiet room and just snog already."

"Nothing new there."

"That's what I'm saying," Sirius rearranged himself in his chair, lounging across it and kicking his legs over one arm. He turned his attention back to James. "You walk her to classes, you do rounds together, you both constantly find pointless but oh-so-important Head business that needs the other's immediate attention," Sirius rolled his eyes, but a grin was slowly spreading across his face.

"You both spend any time you're not together watching each other," Peter interjected. "This little exchange..." He gestured between James and Lily. "This happens all the damn time."

"You've been dancing around each other for weeks. Ask her out already. You never used to have trouble doing that."

Sirius had a point. They all did; James couldn't deny it. He didn't want to deny it. Seventh year was turning out to be a lesson in patience when it came to Lily Evans. James had been trying to clean up his act since she had yelled at him in fifth year. Earning Head Boy had been the perfect opportunity—he could prove to her he wasn't just about Quidditch and juvenile pranks (and even he could admit that most of the pranks the Marauders came up with were, while funny and entertaining, quite juvenile). He knew from the beginning that it would be a challenge just to get her to work with him, much less trust him.

Slowly, she had come around. They started talking after Prefect meeting, then before and after classes. By the end of October, Lily would occasionally partner him in Potions (and she had some brilliant tricks she would share with him), or sit with the Marauders and him at lunch, or stay up late chatting with him instead of finishing homework. He loved talking with her; she had so much to say, she had an opinion about everything, and she could be quite funny. They actually had quite a lot in common—something James felt may have come to a bit of a surprise to Lily.

He wasn't sure when, but somewhere along the way their relationship had shifted from friendly to flirty. All of a sudden, going out with Lily Evans was an entirely likely possibility. He knew from the way she looked at him—or rather, pretended she wasn't looking at him, like she was doing now. He knew from the way she tensed up around him, almost as if she were nervous, and how she would absently play with a strand of hair. And yet she wasn't any closer to admitting it than she was two years ago. It was entirely frustrating. He was tired of being cautious around her, of trying to control his emotions and the often overwhelming urge to simply grab her and snog her senseless.

(Besides, there was a part of him that wanted _her_ to make the first move. He'd always been the one in pursuit while she rebuffed him. It was her turn to go out on a limb.)

"What are you lot up to?" A familiar voice broke through James' musings. He looked up to see Lily Evans approaching their circle. "Why aren't you in the middle of the crowd, wreaking havoc on first years and whatnot?" Despite the accusing words, her tone was light and joking.

"We're taking the year off, Evans. Haven't you noticed?" Sirius replied, looking up at Lily as she rested her elbows on the back of his chair. "Very little havoc has been wreaked on anyone."

"Unless they asked for it," Peter chimed in. "And in that case, you can't really blame us, now can you?"

Lily looked confused. "No pranks?" she asked, her eyes focusing on James, as if for confirmation.

"Nope," he replied, meeting her gaze with a smile.

"No crazy schemes?"

"None whatsoever," James replied innocently. Unless he was vastly mistaken (and he was fairly certain this was not the case), Lily seemed almost disappointed.

"Well, why the bloody hell not?" Lily's irritated tone broke through James' thoughts. "I mean, I understand that you're maturing and acting the part of Head Boy, and you're doing quite well, I'm impressed and even a little proud, but _honestly_! It's dull as tombs around here! And it's our last year— _your_ last year! You've spent the last six causing general mayhem, why stop now?"

Silence followed her rant. Remus dropped his bottle of butterbeer, which shattered on the floor, but no one noticed. All four seventh year boys were staring at Lily, eyes wide with shock. She looked around at them, waiting for a response. It was a full minute before any of them said a word.

"Oh, sweet Merlin," breathed Sirius, finally breaking the silence. Remus and Peter seemed to be coming out of the shock. James continued to stare at Lily in wonder and amusement. "I thought I'd never see this day!"

"Is this really happening?" Peter mused, shaking his head in disbelief. "I must be imagining things..." He drifted off, apparently still too dazed to continue.

Remus flicked his wand with a quickly muttered spell, vanishing the broken glass on the floor and the slowly growing puddle of spilt butterbeer. "D'you think her drink was spiked?" he murmured in an aside to Sirius. "We should probably check, that kind of thing would be frowned upon." He looked as if he were holding back a laugh.

A grin was spreading across James' face. "My dear Miss Evans," he said slowly. "I do believe that you are asking—no, _telling_!—us to toss aside all rules and regulations—"

"Not to mention the fear of your wrath," Sirius interjected in an undertone. James raised his bottle in agreement before continuing.

"—For the sake of perpetuating a childish, if not hilarious and undoubtedly clever, little prank."

Lily paused, almost wincing. "I know that I am forever going to regret saying this, but...yes, that sounds about right." James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter exchanged a glance.

"Well, lads, I do believe this is a day we will never forget," Remus began with reverence. "A day that will live on in infamy."

Sirius laughed quietly as Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.

Peter nodded. "December thirty-first, nineteen seventy-seven."

"The day we officially corrupted Lily Evans," James finished, throwing the redhead a smug smirk.

"Yes, yes, dramatics and all that. Are you quite finished now?" Lily rolled her eyes again. "Are you going to do something to liven up this party or not?"

As if to punctuate her words, a small explosion sounded across the room. The Marauders and Lily looked up in time to see a pair of guilty-looking third year boys crouched at the bottom of the stairway to the girls' dormitories, wands aloft and debris floating around them.

"Amateurs," scoffed Sirius, turning back around. " _We_ were never that hopeless at causing proper mischief."

"Au contraire," Lily objected. James almost laughed to see the familiar gleam of challenge in her eyes, for once not directed at himself. "I seem to recall a particular episode in fourth year involving you, a bunch of Muggle water balloons, and a very badly performed Hovering Charm. Professor Sprout was wringing out her robes for a week; I don't know how you charmed that water to resist drying spells. And that was only one instance!"

She had a good memory. James had to give her that. He was entirely certain she could rattle off at least a dozen more.

Sirius shrugged, nonplussed. "It would have been successful if _somebody_ had not _thrown herself_ at me at the most inopportune moment." He threw Lily a scandalized look. "Really Evans, there's a time and a place..."

Lily blushed slightly, but dismissed Sirius' accusation with a casual flick of her hand. "I was pushed, and you know it," she turned her glare on James, who shook his head.

"I was keeping you out of the line of fire," he retorted. "You were headed right toward that group of Hufflepuffs we were targeting and you would have been wetter than Professor Sprout had I not stopped you. And did I receive any thanks? No! You turned on me with all the fury of a nesting Hungarian Horntail, ready to hex me into oblivion..." James started laughing at the memory. "I've never been so terrified in all my life!"

"'Fury of a nesting Hungarian Horntail?'" Lily murmured, arching an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

James grinned cheekily. "You want entertainment, Evans? You stick around us this evening and I'll guarantee you a good time."

"You _are_ planning something, aren't you?" Lily straightened up. "You lied before, you're planning something entirely against the rules. What are you up to?"

"I thought you were bored," James pointed out, dodging the question. Let her suspicions run rampant. He caught Remus' eye and nodded discreetly. "Two minutes ago, you were all for a little ruckus. Whatever happened to that idea?"

"Firewhisky, Lily?" Remus gestured to the bottles on the table. Lily's eyes narrowed.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Slipped into Hogsmeade," Remus shrugged casually. "Rosmerta outdid herself yet again, the woman is a saint."

"We always have it at parties," Peter commented.

Lily hesitated. "We're supposed to be setting an example..." She looked at the drink dubiously.

"There are about six other people in this room," Sirius pointed out. "Three of them I know for a fact have tried Firewhisky before. The other three won't even know because, as I'm sure you've noticed, we've switched up the labels so it just looks like harmless butterbeer."

Lily frowned a little, and then sighed, moving around Sirius' chair to grab a bottle. She perched herself on the arm of James' chair and handed the bottle to James to open. The boys around her grinned.

"Relax, Lil, we're not going to do anything against the rules," James patted her knee reassuringly as he handed back the now open bottle. "Well...anything _too_ against the rules. Besides, we're keeping it carefully regulated and hidden. No one will be the wiser."

Lily shook her head at him. "You really have corrupted me," she muttered. James merely laughed.

"Oh, you were never that innocent to begin with," James smirked at her again. "I saw you last year when you released a jar full of crickets in the corridors on a whim."

"Excellent idea, by the way. We might need to borrow that one sometime." Remus lifted his bottle in a small toast.

Lily swatted James' arm when he burst into laughter. "Honestly! It was brilliant, Lily, even Sirius remarked that there was some use for you after all." Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh, sod off. Next you'll be asking me to help plan your next escapade." Lily rolled her eyes.

"That's not a bad idea, now that you mention it," James nodded thoughtfully, casually slipping his arm around her waist. "Yes, I think you could be quite the asset to us..." James laughed again as Lily swatted at him. "Oh, you like the idea and you know it! You'll never admit it, of course, but you like it."

Lily chuckled. "You're right, I won't admit it." She took a drink and almost choked, clapping a hand over her mouth and quickly swallowing. James patted her back as she came up coughing.

"You okay?" Lily nodded, shuddering a little. "You don't have to finish it, you know."

"It just...wasn't what I was expecting."

Sirius's barking laughter broke out again. "Bit of a nasty shock, yeah? You handled it better than James did the first time."

James frowned. "That's unnecessary information!"

"Why, what'd he do?" Lily asked, cautiously sipping at her drink now. James threw Sirius a glare.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. Sirius grinned good-naturedly.

"Spit it right back out, didn't he? Sprayed Remus in the face; he wasn't too pleased with that. You at least kept it in, I'm impressed." He grinned at her, raising his own bottle. "Cheers, Evans!" Lily tipped her bottle to him and then took a deeper drink, shuddering a little as it went down. She leaned back, half against the chair and half against James, almost snuggling into him. James secured his arm around her a little tighter.

"So," she began. "You promised me the time of my life?"

 

 

* * *

 

An hour and a half later, and two more rounds of Firewhisky for each of them, the five of them were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, laughing as the Marauders recounted tale after tale of misadventures. James didn't think he'd ever seen Lily laugh so much or so hard in all the time he'd known her; at one point she had tears streaming down her face. She had a few of her own stories to contribute. If James was impressed, Sirius was beside himself, trying to talk her into helping him with his latest scheme. He was in the middle of asking her advice on different charms when a second year stood up on a table in the middle of the room to give a three minute warning for the New Year. Around them, the few students who had stayed through the holidays were gathering around the fireplace to watch the hands on the clock inch closer to midnight.

James remained where he was, with Lily tucked under his arm and a warm fur blanket wrapped around them. It was like being in a cocoon. Her head was resting comfortably against his shoulder. He nudged her a little.

"Ready for the new year?"

"Very," she grinned up at him. "Have you made your resolution yet?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I haven't made one in years, now that I think about it. How about you?"

She nodded seriously, her hair mussing up against his shoulder. "I make one every year. I always have."

"What's your resolution?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you. Not now, at least."

"A secret resolution? Lil, it's not a birthday wish. It could still come true, even if you tell."

"I know that." Her eyes sparkled at him. Around them, the countdown to New Year's began.

_"Ten...nine..."_

"You can tell me," he said cajolingly. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he should kiss her when the clock struck midnight.

_"Eight...seven..."_

She shook her head again, still smiling. "Not yet."

" _Six...five..."_

"C'mon..." He should just snog her already, just pull her close and snog her. Sirius was right, enough was enough.

_"Five...four..."_

But still—she should be the one to make the first move. It was only fair.

_"Three...two..."_

No! He was going to kiss her at midnight. He _had_ to. This was it...

_"...One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"_

At that moment, Lily closed the distance between them and kissed him. For a split second, James was too startled to even register what was happening. As soon as he did, though, he quickly caught up with Lily, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek and slowly deepening the kiss. He could taste the Firewhisky on her tongue. He couldn't believe this was actually happening...he couldn't even think. He just kept on kissing her, pulling her closer to him.

A discreet cough just to his left reminded him that they weren't alone. He slowly broke off the kiss, deeply regretful— _how_ long had he been waiting for this?—but he couldn't help but grin when he caught Lily's elated smile. He looked around. Remus was politely looking away, a small smirk playing on his lips. Peter looked like he might be holding back laughter. Sirius, who had coughed, was giving James an appraising look. He nodded to James, as if congratulating him.

"Well." Not surprisingly, Sirius was the first to speak. "It's about damn time!"

James laughed and Lily ducked her head slightly, blushing slightly despite her smile. James found her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. He gave her hand a little squeeze. When she looked up at him, he glanced at the portrait hole, then back at  
her, raising his eyebrows. She nodded, eyes sparkling again, and let him pull her to her feet.

Amid a few catcalls and more than a little applause, James and Lily left the common room to find a quiet place to talk...or not.

James was leaning towards the latter. He was pretty sure Lily was on the same page.

It was, bar none, the best New Year's of his life.


End file.
